1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to the field of computer software and, more particularly, to methods of providing rich media in a peer-to-peer model.
2. Description of Related Art
The Internet, also referred to as an “internetwork”, is a set of computer networks, possibly dissimilar, joined together by means of gateways that handle data transfer and the conversion of messages from the sending network to the protocols used by the receiving network (with packets if necessary). When capitalized, the term “Internet” refers to the collection of networks and gateways that use the TCP/IP suite of protocols.
The Internet has become a cultural fixture as a source of both information and entertainment. Many businesses are creating Internet sites as an integral part of their marketing efforts, informing consumers of the products or services offered by the business or providing other information seeking to engender brand loyalty. Many federal, state, and local government agencies are also employing Internet sites for informational purposes, particularly agencies which must interact with virtually all segments of society such as the Internal Revenue Service and secretaries of state. Providing informational guides and/or searchable databases of online public records may reduce operating costs. Further, the Internet is becoming increasingly popular as a medium for commercial transactions.
Another aspect of the Internet that is becoming increasingly important for businesses to communicate internally and with customers and other businesses is the use of electronic mail (e-mail). E-mail is being used more and more to share documents such that multiple parties can access and sometimes edit a document to produce a high quality product. Furthermore, e-mail is used to provide advertising and other forms of persuasive communication. However, text and graphics are oftentimes inadequate to adequately express ideas and to persuade people. Thus, the need for multi-media or rich media documents.
However, with the increasing speed and sophistication of computers, documents containing more than text and graphics are now routinely shared over the Internet or other network through e-mail. As mentioned above, these types of documents are often referred to as rich media documents. Rich media generally refers to documents or that can include video, audio, animation, fill-in forms, pull-down menus, and other files that are larger than traditional text and/or graphics documents. Rich media has been a growing category for providing information to users, but its use has been hampered by bandwidth constraints. Most rich media, particularly audio and video, require greater bandwidth to be effective. Thus, when being sent across the network, large amounts of bandwidth are consumed, which slows down the speed and efficiency of the network. Furthermore, the entire multi-media document must be stored at each recipients computer. Thus, using up valuable storage space on each recipients computer. However, many times, a recipient does not need the entire multimedia document to reap the information desired to be transmitted by the sender. Therefore, a method and system of reducing network bandwidth required to send rich media documents is desirable. Furthermore, a method and system of reducing storage requirements on the computers of recipients of rich media is also desirable.